Donald Trump\u2019s decision to join Israel\u2019s military campaign against Iran has shaken Gulf capitals that only weeks ago rolled out the red carpet for the US president and urged him to hold his fire.<\/p>\n
While Gulf leaders last month feted Trump<\/a> with pageantry and trillion dollar investment pledges, behind the scenes the monarchies pressed him to stick to diplomacy with Tehran and avoid a regional war they believe would threaten their security and stability. <\/p>\n Iran has long been a major political and military rival to the Gulf\u2019s largest economies \u2014 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates \u2014 but they have sought to build bridges in recent years and the eruption of a volatile new Mideast conflict<\/a> has unnerved the oil and gas rich states. <\/p>\n The Gulf waters that separate Iran from its Arab neighbours are narrow \u2014 just 200 miles across at its widest point and less than 50 at its tightest. Well within reach of Iran\u2019s short-range missiles, and playing host to key US military bases, Gulf nations desperately want to avoid being dragged into the conflict.<\/p>\n But Gulf leaders also fear a prolonged conflict will destabilise Iran, a multi-ethnic state of some 90mn people, or push its rulers to take more drastic action, such as seeking a nuclear weapon. Both would leave the Gulf \u2014 which has spent recent years de-escalating tensions with Iran and improving relations \u2014 to deal with the chaotic aftermath of a war they neither started nor supported.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe last time we saw war in the Middle East, we saw the fragmentation of the region,\u201d said Albadr Alshateri, professor at the National Defence College in Abu Dhabi, citing the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq which he said caused \u201cirreparable damage\u201d. The ensuing mayhem empowered Iran, inflamed sectarian tensions in the region and led to the birth of Sunni jihadist group Isis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although Alshateri judged the Iranian regime\u2019s immediate fall to be unlikely, he pointed to the experience of carnage caused by attempted regime collapse in the wider Middle East. He added that for the Gulf, \u201cthis is closer\u201d.<\/p>\n Initial reaction to the US strikes was marked by anxiety and apprehension. Citizens on Sunday morning felt \u201ca mix of shock and concern,\u201d said Eyad Alrefai, faculty member of King Abdulaziz University\u2019s political science department in Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n \u201cSocial media platforms are flooded with urgent discussions,\u201d he added, with people voicing their worry over the escalation. \u201cThe atmosphere is charged with emotions\u201d.<\/p>\n In Kuwait, the closest Gulf state to Iran physically, people had reacted on a \u201cspectrum\u201d, said a Kuwaiti consultant, \u201cfrom those who are in denial that anything will ever come our way to those who are in total hoarding panic\u201d. The state\u2019s finance ministry reassured employees that its complex had shelters equipped to fit 900 people.<\/p>\n